A review of education stories published throughout the year proved 2018 may have been the kindest year to date in Newtown Public Schools.
Near the start of the year, Newtown High School senior Elle Sa...
UPDATE: NEF's Annual Evening of Comedy has been postponed to Friday, March 1. || The Newtown Education Foundation Honor an Educator program is live in time for the holiday season, according to the foundation. The foundation has also announced its next Annual Evening of Comedy fundraiser is slated to be held January 19.
All fourth grade elementary school students in the district work on creating personalized exploration projects, and one class at Hawley Elementary School recently completed its projects.
Newtown Middle School recently released its honor roll for the first quarter marking period of the 2018-19 school year. The following seventh and eighth grade students earned their place on the list.
Newtown schools participated in International Education Week (IEW) through programs and events supported by the Newtown International Center for Education (NICE) and the student NICE Club the week of November 12 to 16.
Newtown Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 members assisted Reed Intermediate School sixth grade math and science teacher Drew Hall’s students on November 12 by dropping student projects from a ladder truck.
Newtown High School senior Carter Goodrich was selected as a finalist to compete for the $14,000 Barton L. Weller scholarship, named in honor of the late Barton L. Weller, founder of Vitramon Incorporated in Monroe.
Sandy Hook Elementary School hosted a full-school celebration on November 21 to highlight its successful involvement in the annual Women Involved in Newtown (WIN) Thanksgiving Basket Program.
Dear Alyssa, Kelela, and Brandon,
We send our sincere sympathy to you and your family. We will also keep you in our prayers asking our Lord to grant you comfort and peace.
With love,
Vince and Sandy Venitelli
Bruce, your advice that voters should “read, listen, and engage” would be much more persuasive if you practiced it yourself.
You campaigned on openness and responsiveness. You declared that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government” and promised to answer constituent inquiries within two days. Yet you never answered my straightforward public question about Main Street demonstrations, traffic disruption, pedestrian safety, and the effects on local businesses.
After taking office, meaningful public engagement has largely been replaced by “Brews with Bruce” at the Senior Center—requiring reservations and, for some residents, a day pass. That is not accessible, townwide engagement. Previous first selectmen held open coffee hours and walk-and-talk sessions that any resident could attend.
Then came the failed storm communications, your apology, and another promise to communicate better—followed shortly afterward by more silence while multiple police agencies conducted a significant search near Saw Mill Road.
You now tell voters to examine what candidates say and “how they say it.” I would suggest going one step further: compare what politicians promise while seeking office with what they actually do after winning.
Your record presents a stark contrast. You told voters exactly what they wanted to hear to get the job, then failed to live by those promises. Whether that is dishonesty or simply indifference, it is the same familiar, two-faced politics you once claimed you would replace.
Nothing says “I care about Newtown homeowners” quite like lining Main Street with plywood campaign billboards—apparently built just inches below the size at which officials say they can take action. At this rate, we’ll need property-tax relief just to offset the loss in curb appeal.
